Magnets and Feathers
by Scribe's Faction
Summary: Magnets and feathers... Read as these two objects become the center of the revolving stories that various writers weave...
1. Compass

**Title: Compass  
****Authoress**: LittleBottle  
**Summary**: "If soulmates are connected like compasses and magnets... Then who's the compass and who's the magnet?"  
**Genre**: Humor, Friendship  
**Rating**: K  
**Character**: Nao Kobayashi/ Junosuke Sasaki

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Nao intently watched the small red arrow of the compass shift inside the little instrument. Returning the compass the teacher had forgotten was a pain, but she lost the group's rock-paper-scissors so she had no right to torture her groupmates for making her walk the distance.

_-Who the hell thought of a survival class in geography? Why do we need to know how compasses work? When the hell would I be stuck in the jungle? The old man even taught us how to use magnets to tell the way even when there's no compass! What a waste of time!- _she thought to herself, irritated.

"Seems like it's broken," she muttered to herself, concluding on the randomly moving arrow.

_-Please don't let the old man unleash his wrath on me... Maybe he won't even notice_?- she thought hopefully.

"Broken..." She repeated as she remembered her visit to Kahoko's house a few days ago.

"Kaho? Did you drop this canon music box we gave you for your birthday? One of its carvings is broken..."

"Yes... But someone fixed it for me," she said, her face lighting up at the thought of her mechanical man.

"Ooh! It might be fate! Who is it? It's one of the concour participants, isn't it? Go date him!" Mio eagerly chirped in a high-pitched voice, drunk in her love fantasies.

Just as a normal person would do, Kahoko did not give the name of the person who helped her. After all, she did not need the constant teasing that would come from Mio.

"Now magic arrow, tell me who fixed it," Nao commanded jokingly.

As if attracted by a magnet, the red arrow swiftly moved an angle of around thirty degrees and Nao turned her head in the appointed direction, an amused smile plastered on her cheeky face. Just a little distance away, Kazuki could be seen enthusiastically blowing his trumpet on the roof.

"I wonder if it's right..." she said to herself while imagining Kazuki and Kahoko as a couple.

They have had a couple of encounters, almost as if they were constantly attracting each other, Kazuki the magnet and Kahoko the compass. After all, Kahoko did somehow walk her way up to the roof and meet Kazuki that first time, as if pulled by a force. But based on the stories Kahoko told her, Kahoko was a broken compass, just like the one on Nao's hand that exact moment. She got attracted to several magnets.

She met Ryoutarou accidentally that one time, a life-threatening story where he saved her from falling down the stairs. She also met Len that same day, Len who happened to be entering the class that same second she was delivering the equipment.

What were all those, if not the work of compasses and magnets? Kahoko was definitely hiding a few events from her. It kind of hurt, really, but there was nothing that she could do. If Kahoko did not want to tell her then she had no right to ask her about it. But then again, all the magnets seem to want to attract the broken compass, which left a unevitable question, who was the real magnet, really? Maybe the broken compass itself was magnetic.

"Aaaah!" A scream broke out.

Kazuki could not stop himself from letting out a disappointed wail as his music scores were stolen from him by the michievous wind. They fluttered down effortlessly like a group of weightless feathers, closely followed by Kazuki's miserable amber eyes.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" He called out to them, his hands desperately reaching out to the unsteadily falling papers that were flying away from him. Nao could have sworn that his eyes were tearing up. With his hands scratching the empty air in front of him and the balustrade of the roof holding him back, he kind of looked like a fighter toddler trying to get out of his baby cage.

Nao let out a chuckle. It was really hard to believe that Kazuki was her senpai.

"But he's kinda like those papers. Just so free. Even when he's falling, he'll probably try his best till the end... Approved for Kahoko's boyfriend!"

Then the force happened again. The papers finally reached the ground, one of them falling on a certain redhead. The broken compass was once again attracted by one of the magnets.

"Hino-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

"Hihara-senpai?"

"Help meeeeeeeeeee!"

Kahoko laughed and nodded her head while picking up Kazuki's music scores.

"Thank youuuuuuuuuu!"

Watching the scene, Nao was filled with warm happiness and just a little hint of jealousy. After all, what girl did not want to meet the perfect crush?

"Little compass, take me to my soulmate..." She whispered, putting all her faith in her secret wish.

Within the blink of an eye, the little arrow turned a full circle before swiftly pointing to the direction right behind her.

She stared at the circular glass enclosing her arrow of fate. For the time she held the compass, the compass has never stopped moving. It had always continuously shifted from left to right, never staying still for more than one second. Her mundane black eyes could not help widening when the little red arrow stayed frozen for more than five seconds and counting. It did not even twitch. It seemed like it was supposed to be pointing that way, behind her. It seemed like the force granted her wish. Her soul mate was behind her or somewhere a little further but in that direction.

Nao's heart started beating faster. She felt like she was running a marathon as she could feel the rapid hammering of her heart in her ears. The right hand that was holding the compass started trembling. The magnet of her soul mate was calling the compass of her soul.

"Here goes nothing..." She muttered as she slowly turned around.

The increased rate of her heartbeat did not stop and her eyes just widened even more, an act that she did not think was possible. He was right behind her, not even a meter away.

Her shocked eyes met his neutral ones. His face slowly turned from blank to confused. She knew she had to say something. She could not just stand there gawking at the man's face like an idiot. It was just a stupid arrow right? She had to snap out of it! Just ask him why he was there! Her lips moved to ask but all that came out was utter silence. She stood there with her oogling eyes and her constantly opening and closing mouth.

"You look like a fish," the man said, bursting into laughters.

After the comment, Nao managed to get a hold of herself. She gathered what was left of her dignity and took a deep breath.

"Shut up, Junnosuke!" She tried to scold him, her face dying a deep shade of red.

Sasaki did not stop the laughter erupting from him. Nao wished that a hole would just suddenly appear and swallow her as she frowned at Sasaki and the laughter that was ripping his body, the laughter that was infuriatingly grating her nerves.

"That's enough! What are you doing here?" She asked as demanding as she could, which was not very demanding in her state of shame.

"Oh I was just gonna give you this magnet to return to the old man. I found it under the table... I was ticked off because I had to walk all the way here but... It's all worth it... You should've seen-" but he could not continue as he burst into another fit of laughter.

Nao managed to flash an annoyed grimace before snatching the magnet and going on her way.

"He was carrying a magnet! That's why!" She muttered angrily, stomping her way through the hallways.

Or was it?

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Thanks for reading!


	2. The Letter of Hate

**Title: The Letter of Hate  
Authoress: **cheerfulhoshi**  
Summary: **"Writing does not resurrect. It buries." –Hazel Lancaster**  
Genre: **Romance, Hurt/Comfort, AU**  
Rating: **K+

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own La Corda D'Oro. It belongs to Kure Yuki and to all its legitimate owners.

* * *

_Nor marble, nor the gilded monuments  
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;  
But you shall shine more brightly in these contents  
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time._

–William Shakespeare, _Sonnet 55_

**~The Letter of Hate~**

Dear Shouko,

I would like to let you know how humiliated I am for writing this letter. Not in my entire twenty four years of existence have I been greatly embarrassed, and by my cousin, Ryoutaro Tsuchiura, saying how utterly out-of-date—which is to say, ANCIENT—and unmanly, and un-character-like this is for me, though I don't see why. Nonetheless, I did not write this letter with the purpose of entertaining you with my errors, but to let my feelings come across. I want you to know that I hate you.

Eighteen years ago, I discovered love for the first time in the person of my best friend. Three years ago, she broke my heart by marrying that stupid ice prick—an arrogant, pompous ICE PRICK I tell you!—that she chose over me. Not that I'm any better, of course, but I am_._ And from that point on, I forced this little beating thing in my chest which you call "heart" to turn as hard as solid metal, to never love again, to lose all kinds of feelings. But alas, Shouko, I didn't know that yours was made of MAGNET. And for that, I hate you even more for bringing my heart out in the open again. Only then did I find out that yours wasn't _just _a magnet, but a furnace as well, setting my heart on fire and making it vulnerable.

I tried to avoid fate, even going as far as to engaging in a pretend-relationship with you, only to find out that my _quote-unquote _destined spouse was the very person I'm in a cliché relationship with. How utterly annoying, wouldn't you agree? Yes, annoying..._-ly_ wonderful, that despite my protests, fate still led me to you. I figured it out on the night of the masquerade ball where I'm supposed to meet my _'mystery girl'. _You were the most beautiful creature, and I recalled how my eyes were only set on you. Not even your pianist cousin got my attention. She was pretty, but she's already taken by my cousin. But I don't care. For me, you're the most beautiful.

I thought I stopped hating you then. But when I saw your anxious self surrounded by ugly rich bastards, I found myself hating you all over again for being so beautiful. Of course I didn't stand it, so I grabbed you away from them. Even until now, the sensation of your lips on mine does not fail to make me smile. The memory about those bastards doesn't matter anymore because I know that I love you, and that you feel the same way.

Nonetheless, I still hate you, especially now more than ever. Because just when finally things are falling into place... you left me, just like that. I know it wasn't your fault, nor anyone's fault, but I still hate you for looking so helpless. I hated myself, too, for not being able to do anything although I knew it was beyond my power.

My now humane heart, Shouko, broke for the second time when I saw your flaccid body struggling for life on your hospital bed.

The nurses came to check on you every now and then. They didn't always let me inside the ICU, much to my frustration. Not even your personal doctor—who was your very own best friend—gave me an excemption. I always thought he did that to keep you for himself, but Shimizu was only doing his job. So I still waited like a fool outside the units. I became selfish, you know, and I figured it must've been a side effect of my sadness. But no, it was just me being desperate for you.

Still, I tried in vain to refuse sleep as long as I possibly could, because even if I did make an effort to shut myself down, I'd be woken by nightmares that'd have me frantically searching for you. So I spent most nights sleepless, Shouko, but they became bearable because every morning I'd see you breathe slowly, except with the aid of oxygen tanks. Even so, the mere sight sent my heart flying to heaven. You were still alive.

Almost every morning I'd come inside to hold your soft yet limp hands and cry my eyes out. Instead of your elegant white dress, what your wear is a white hospital gown. And where your elegant disguise once had been, an oxygen mask took its place. I was captured by your every move, and until now I'm still held captive. Once when you finally opened your aqua eyes, my heart leapt for joy. I was too stoned to call for the doctors, most especially when _finally_, after how many months, you smiled—weakly—for me. Then suddenly, your head fell limply beside you and gave your final breath, leaving me with only that smile I've known you've always struggled to give.

I held your hand tightly after that, feeling myself crumble beside you as I called out your name. I didn't want to look at you because I knew that the very memory would haunt me. Your eyes that looked on me with such tenderness will never open again. And your lips that make my name sound sweetly will never utter anymore syllables. And you... will be whisked as a distant dream.

I hated you for that. Why did you have to leave? I hate myself, too, for hating you because of a loss that none of us did ever want.

And now I'm scratching this once blank sheet into a decent letter in hopes of letting my feelings reach you for the last time before I let you go. I know very well that this is a vain attempt into immortalizing you, at least in this lifeless piece of paper, because what I'm really doing is burying you deep into my memories where you could no longer hurt me.

But what I'm really trying to say is this: _I love you. _That even if it hurts to write these very letters, I'm still writing them anyway. And even though you're gone, those three words will remain true.

Your husband,

Etou

.

.

.

The young lad folded the parchment and slipped it inside an envelope. And with painful and unstoppable tears, he knelt on the soft green grass and whispered on her deathbed.

"How dare you cross my mind, Shouko Fuyuumi? If it were possible, I wish heaven would help me pass on this message: _I miss you_. So much that it hurts."

.

.

_Fin._

_._

_._

_._

"_Grief does not change you. It reveals you." –_Peter Van Houten

_~The REAL End_

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_A/N:_ Thanks for reading this story (if it's considered one) from top to bottom! By the way, this fiction is inspired by a cool book I just recently finished, entitled _The Fault in Our Stars _by John Green. Behold, my first recommendation! ^_^ Really, it's awesome. Thanks again for reading this story. Have a nice day!


	3. Magnet : What is Love?

**Title** : MAGNET - What is love?  
**Authoress** : LaughAway  
**Summary** : It was him, who taught her what love truly is...  
**Genre : **Romance**  
Pairing** : LenXKaho  
**Rating** : T

* * *

She let the bow glide against the A string as her fingers skillfully slide along the finger board, leaving dents on her fingers. She let out a satisfied smile when she reached the last bar of the piece, ending it gracefully yet powerfully. She lowered the bow and heaved a sigh.

You've improved, Hino. I am really proud of you.

The very moment that the words escaped his mouth, she would smile. His cold facade would immediately ease up and his soft, calming voice, which she never got bored of, was one of the best things in the world. But now she just had to imagine it resonate in her heart and let it echo in her mind. Why? Because he had left her to pursue his dreams, and she had no problem with that. She knew he had been trying hard to fulfill his own dreams since he was really young. He had been working hard and he was near, really near, and she couldn't just block his way.

She raised her head slightly and gazed thoughtfully at the highest windows. She could see the bushes outside swaying, dancing to the rhythm as the wind whispered past, leaving a tingling sensation behind. When the second wave of zephyr blew past, everything came back to her.

"What are you doing here, Hino?" Tsukimori asked, his tone icy and cold and his face twitched into a taste of disgust. He held out her bag that she had left behind a few moments ago. "Get your bag and please leave. You're disturbing my practice."

"That was wonderful, Tsukimori kun! I didn't know the violin can make such a wonderful sound! The low notes were warm and gentle while the high notes sound transparent!" Enthusiasm was taking over my senses. My mind didn't seem to recognize the awkward atmosphere and Tsukimori's annoyed face.

Tsukimori arched an eyebrow. "Please take your bag and leave," He said tearing his gaze away from her.

"Ah! Gomennasai, Tsukimori kun! I must be disturbing your practice, I shall take my leave- "

Tsukimori threw the bag to her and quickly slammed the windows shut. Leaving her to stand there with her face masked with surprise.

She still remember his cold, icy voice accompanied by his slanted eyebrows and frown on his stern face. She still remember saying that no one would want a cold guy like him. But ever since she joined the concours, her whole life changed. She was the rose among thorns, the moon among the stars. It reminded her of how the 5 guys confess to her in their own unique ways. But his was the most unforgettable, the one she treasured the most, the one that surprised her the most. Even though it was just a simple 'I love you'.

"Hino."

"Is there anything I can help-"

"I love you, Hino."

Those words... They were like priceless pearls...

"I've always had my eyes on you since the first selection of the concours,"

Those tears... That was the first time I saw him shed tears...

"I don't believe in love at first sight but..."

Those eyes... They turned soft.. What's this? What happened?

"Everytime I'm near you, my rhythm was thrown off..."

Those lips... They must be for me... No wait, I don't deserve it!

"I cannot explain what love is but..."

Tsukimori.. Why me? I don't deserve you... I mean you're just too good for me...

"I know that you might not be able to return my feelings , I know you don't feel the same way towards me... But..."

There are thousands of other girls better than me...

"I love you, Hino!"

Why me? Tsukimori..

"I just want you to acknowledge my feelings for you! I-"

"Enough! That's enough Tsukimori!" Rivulets started trailling down my cheeks will anyone catch it for me? Will you, Tsukimori kun?

He was stunned. "I... I... Gomennasai..."

She stepped forward, close enough to look into his eyes. Tiptoeing, she leaned against his chest and felt him flinch a little. She then smashed her lips into his...

I love you too, Tsukimori...

She have always known that he was a person with the heart of an angel, one with sensitive feelings. It's true that he doesn't get hurt easily, but no one knows the burden he's carrying inside, no one knows what he's hiding in that fragile and delicate heart all these years.

Those tears that, only for her, he was willing to shed...

"You've improved, Kahoko. I'm very proud of my girlfriend, "

The voice rang like a loud bell in her mind, shaking her out of her reverie. This voice... Could it be?

"Len!" She turned on her heels like a ballerina on stage swayed as her eyes blinked in delight.

"You're-" You're back, she wanted to say, but the only reply was the footsteps of some music students who were about to take their leave.

The joy and hope she felt just now had now shattered like glass that broke into little pieces of shards. Her face had turned pallid and she reluctantly packed her things, ready to go home.

It has been 365 days since he left her. It has been 365 and she was still counting. 1460 more days… She thought as she paced the streets slowly. The sky had turned into a darker shade of blue but she was still far away from her house. The endless zephyr howled past and the dust billowed near her. The streets was empty except for a few cars which passed by now and then. She looked up at the sky and the moon was seen peeking behind the thick clouds. Moments of silenced past and the air turned chilly, sending shivers racing down her spine. She placed her hands around her neck, wishing that Len had been here to drape his jacket on her shoulders or put an arm around her.

Len face suddenly crossed her mind, and it was from him, that she learnt what love is.

"Here's your present," Len said, holding out a paper bag to her.

Her eyes blinked in delight, and I could feel the rush of excitement. " Arigatou!" She said as she took the paper bag from him.

"Open it now, Hino," Len said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Open it now? But isn't it rude?" She said with a puzzled look. She always opens her birthday presents at home and having to open her present right after she received it, especially from someone really special to her, feels extremely weird.

"Uhh.. Okay," She said as she reluctantly took out the box from inside the bag. The box was so much like Len; it was neatly wrapped with plain, pallid looking white paper without any decorations.

Len watched her intently as she tore the wrapping paper and opened the gift. Inside the brown box, there lay a little cuboid object. It was blue on one end and red on the other. It was a magnet. The moment she saw it, her jaws immediately dropped open, her eyes couldn't believe what I was looking at. She quickly regained her composure and let out a chuckle. "Oh my. Len, why a magnet? Can you at least be a little be more romantic?"

"Do you know why I gave you that?" Len asked, his façade suddenly turning soft and gentle.

Confused, she shook her head and said, "No. I have no idea. "

_It was really amazing to see Len explain the resemblance of a magnet and love itself. And thinking about Len makes me feel the warmth that I had been wishing for_, she thought as she walked, step after step. Love really is amazing.

"_Imagine that the North Pole is the man and the South Pole is the woman, and when the two meet, a force is produced, which is attraction or in other words love. When a magnet is strong, its magnetic domains all will point at the same direction. And for love to stay preserved, a couple should agree with each other, take care of each other. But a magnet will lose its magnetism when hit by objects, heated, or using the alternative current. And same goes to love. When it is not taken care of, it will soon disappear, so never fill it with bad impression, anger or tantrum. Yes it can be repaired, but it can never be as good as it was before…"_

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Thank you for spending your time to read! :D


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